Lions, tigers, and bears..

Actually, more like: lions, beavers, and golden retrievers.

At my previous company I would periodically take those little self-evaluation tests to figure out my general personally type. This was typically done during a team off-site and the results would be anticipated.

Of course Larry is a “Retriever”.

Sure enough, the test results showed that Mary is a strong driver but with a tall yellow bar too.

For myself, I was always a driver but like reading horoscopes, I saw a little of myself in each description of the lion, otter, golden retriever, and beaver.

Sometimes we’d have to wear these little personality name tags in the office and when we’d tire of this display; we’d hang them in our office for people to see. Supposedly this would help others work with us better.

How exactly am I supposed to give a Retriever information?

How do I more effectively ask a Beaver to do something?

Wouldn’t it be easier if I just knew what to get from others to do my work more effectively?

We all go to work wanting to do a good job. Everyone there, like everyone you might notice in your neighborhood, at church, or in the grocery store, is a mixed bag of nuts. We’re all different. We all have our own idiosyncrasies. We all have our own perceptions based on our upbringing. Some even have their own agendas.

How can we work together better?

While understanding your colleagues and knowing them personally always benefits, one doesn’t always have the opportunity to understand how someone works.

• You could be new on a team.
  

• Your team could be located at several locations.
  

• Understanding someone else’s personality type might not be your gift.
  

There are many reasons why knowing yourself better is the key to getting information presented to you as you need to do your job more effectively verses leaving it to someone else's interpretation. Things like:

• What questions should you ask to fill in the gaps in your mind?

• How should you lay out your work for your brain to process quicker?

• When should you slow down to let others catch up?

Just as in personal relationships, understanding your very own unique way of processing information, will make you more effective in all you do.

Managing time verses productivity

I like to talk about time manage- ment because it's a phrase that I grew up with in my corporate career. But let's be straight:

Just as 2+ 1 does not equal 4,

Managing Time does not equal Productivity.

I'm not saying you won't get a lot of things done by understanding all the things you want to do, all the things you're getting paid to do, then breaking down those projects into actionable tasks. you could be super busy doing all those tasks and more having lots of 'checks' in your planner.

By working and even finishing tasks that don't get you closer to reaching your goals - work or personal, you'll find yourself perhaps more stressed and feeling like you don't have enough time in the day because what you are working on isn't in harmony with what you ultimately want to do. Perhaps what you choose to do everyday (even following your to-do list) isn't getting you any closer to the end of your project.

Huh?

If you're not working on the right stuff (- on what's important to you -) deep down you know it. Deep down you know what you should be working on. This knowledge you carry deep down inside of you is screaming for attention and this is causing you stress.

Important tasks support both your values and your goals. These goals could be work related and assigned. These goals could be personal ventures. The same rules apply.

UNDERSTAND.
Understand the big picture of what you're trying to achieve. From this you can define the path to get there: what needs to happen, who you will work with, how to do it, and what you don't know.

Understand what it is you really want to achieve. We have a lot of ideas in business and it is all our job to ensure that what we do supports the corporate vision. Has your project deviated? Perhaps it's time to stop - or redine the corporate direction. Is the corporation you?

FOCUS.
Focus on showing up for yourself. If you've gone to the trouble of understanding how your direction supports the project that supports the vision of the company and you know how to get there, what are you doing continuing research for that old project this morning - or worse, checking your email and twitter accounts 25 times a day? (go ahead, track how many times per day you look - it may surprise you)

The constant review of your plan and important tasks you've assigned yourself each day will remind you how you can be best productive. You will work on your important stuff.

You can always procrastinate tomorrow.

KEEP MOVING.
Rarely do I start a project where I know everything about what I need to do and the technology required.

What do you do when you don't know?

Building momentum for yourself is equally important as building and maintaining momentum for a team. Momentum inspires, energizes, and creates believers. Sometimes it's necessary to make a decision when all the information isn't present. To quote an old manager, you "reserve the right to get smarter." There will always be things you don't know. Building time into your schedule and planning to learn may help remove your personal "this road ends" signs.

Show up for yourself. Cherish your day. Do More.

Extra: I like the way Dr. Manlowe talks about TIME in her recent article. She also echoes the assignment by the book, The Artist's Way by recommending writing every morning to both clear your head and align your vision with your day's agenda. I do this as both a writer and an engineer. It works.

Image credit, Jeff Morrison. Symbol # indicating 'does not equal' used as blogspot.com does not recognize input of actual symbol 9April2009

r e s p e c t

Many relationships are defined by how one feels around another person. So the question is then what are you doing to build, grow, and nurture relationships with others?

Are you listening to people?
Are you abusing their time?
Do you value others?
Do you honor their values?

Leadership Question: Is how you relate with others affecting how you lead?

I remember well the first team I lead. This was to be my first project as a Program Manager and already some really heavy hitters were being added to my team. These guys were highly respected and top innovators in my company.

I asked myself This: “How was I supposed to get their attention? Why would they follow me?” What if I fail?

Adding further to my woe, the project was assigned a tight schedule. ..kinda fun!!!

In thinking about how I would tackle these tough questions that would inevitably put a stamp on me as a leader, I decided to implement a simple two-step plan.

The plan looked like this:

1) I used a team approach to discover what we didn’t know in the first week and then created an outline of how we would develop the components of the product that we were creating. I added the step of finding out what we didn’t know and pulling in market data at the same time.

2) I proposed meeting twice a week and provided a schedule on what we would be doing. Each meeting being a working session using brainstorm, benchmarking, and usability methods to design our product. The first meeting would be the tell-all to see if the team gave me any merit. I had given them an assignment for the meeting. This was to benchmark a specific hinge in the consumer marketplace and bring examples to the group.

I used a collaborative approach to make instill an inclusive feeling for each team member and hoped that would get the desired results.

And guess what? They did it!

Each participant on the team had gone exploring that week and brought one or two examples of how to complete the project at hand. Ultimately the project was a success. We had a lot of fun and everyone got along well. We even “cracked” a tough-cookie and converted that nay-sayer into a believer. And oh, we actually hit our deliverables and our project timeline!

As a leader, what did I do right to make this such a success? I can tell you with one word: respect.

Respect is a powerful tool enabling you to listen and consider ideas from others. It allows you to empathize with and value the time of others. I spent a lot of time with each team member listening to their ideas. As a team, we had specific deliverables each week and all were accountable in the same way. The idea is to make sure that each step is interesting and fun. Ask for their input and give them a venue to shine. The goal is to create and maintain an environment where everyone on the team could grow, prosper, contribute, and sparkle.

When a team member will bring something of value to a meeting they are consequently given lots of attention and kudos all around. The next meeting inevitably more team members will contribute over and above what they had before. Terry Bacon says it best in

What People Want:

“The most important job you have (as a leader) is to recognize the contributions of your good to great performers. It motivates them, encourages others, establishes your standards, and communicates that you care..”

What would you do for someone that values both your time and ideas?

Would you want to contribute more to them? Would you offer more effort to them because of their role, or because WHO they are as a person?

Originally posted by me, 1April2009 here: http://linked2leadership.com/2009/04/01/r-e-s-p-e-c-t/